When you first walk into Claridges, you can not help but notice the absolutely stunning room right past the lobby with its marble checkerboard floor. It screams of luxuries to be had, and it is the epitome of elegance. It says to Moi, “Hello, you did know there are little cakes here, right? You know you would absolutely die if you thought that these treats are being devoured by non deserving individuals who are not named Heavenly Housewife, right?” My inner piggy replied, “Oink.”
“Oh yes, … treats,” I mused as I sat myself down ever so elegantly. It’s so difficult to keep my composure. I was practically drooling with anticipation. This is just how I get when I know that it is feeding time at the zoo.
Well, the zoo was pleasantly abuzz. Everyone was dressed in their finest, and everyone seemed to be happily chatting. There was a great atmosphere with live piano music and a choir of little boys singing Christmas carols while wearing some very amusing little outfits with ruffed collars (which couldn’t have been at all comfortable LOL). Although Claridges has an air of impossible elegance, it is actually not intimidating. The servers were extremely gracious and acommodating. Afternoon tea was about to start. Woo hoo!
It started with a tray of sandwiches. Among them were organic egg and mayo with tomato and mustard cress on brown bread, cheese and chutney, Scottish oak smoked salmon with cream cheese and capers on rye bread, hummus and roasted vegetable, and of course, the ubiquitous cucumber sandwich served on onion bread. Crusts off.
The scones with clotted cream and jam were without a doubt my favourite part of the afternoon tea. They had two types of scones: raisin and apple. They were on the small side, but they offered us more (and we greedily accepted). They were served warm, but I don’t actually think they were fresh like when we had afternoon tea at the Ritz. Still, they were yummy. These were served with Devonshire clotted cream (yum!) and Marco Polo jelly. Okay, I got to tell you about this Marco Polo jelly. It was divine. This was a tea infused jam made from fruit and flowers from China and Tibet. Exotic, no? Normally, scones are served with strawberry or raspberry preserves, but Mr P and I simply adored this! It was an absolute revelation (or as much of a revelation as jam could be 
). Unfortunately I believe that this flavour is exclusive to Claridges. I have never seen Marco Polo jelly anywhere else. Have you? If yes, let me know where, so I can stock up.
). Unfortunately I believe that this flavour is exclusive to Claridges. I have never seen Marco Polo jelly anywhere else. Have you? If yes, let me know where, so I can stock up.
I have GOT to get a new camera! Any recommendations?
Finally, we have the deserts: a selection of French pastries. I am kind of curious why we only got one of each between us two. After all, they were incredibly generous with everything else. Oh well. Starting from the back, there was a kind of custard slice with lovely big pieces of fresh strawberries in it. That was my favourite. In the glass, there was a gelatinous fruit thing (mostly raspberry I think) and it was topped with a raspberry foam which did not deflate despite it sitting there for 15 minutes while we were eating our scones. I thought it was horrid. The taste was very strong. I made a huge sourpuss face after putting the spoon in my mouth. Not the most elegant reaction for a psuedo-English lady taking afternoon tea, but hey, this is me we are talking about LOL. Mr P ate the rest. The little tart was an appley mince pie thing. It was okay, nothing spectacular, pretty unmemorable actually. The dome shaped desert was a rich chocolate mouse with an apricot centre (that centre was a bit too tart for my liking, so I ate around it). All in all, the deserts were my least favourite part, which is quite unusual for me. Thats not to say I didn’t enjoy it. I am just saying I preferred the scones and sandwiches.
Oh, silly me. I forgot to tell you about the actual tea! Claridges has a menu of 30 teas to choose from (and coffee too). They range from Indian blends to Chinese ones, and they also have a selection of infusions. On the tea menu, they describe the qualities of the drink to help you make your selection. But let’s be honest dears… I am here for the food! I don’t know enough about tea. It is actually quite a complex subject. It is a lot like knowing the perfect wine to go with a meal. I may take a class in it one day. Anyway I downed loads of cups of tea. I only hope my teeth don’t turn brown now!
When we left, the waiter presented each of us with a little wrapped gift box. Inside were two little chocolates. Ah, sweet. I can see why Claridges has consistently been given the Award for Excellence by the Tea Guild.
Tea at Claridges was a wonderful experience. I am going to be completely honest with you when I say that for the most part, nothing I ate was particularly memorable (except for the jelly). However, afternoon tea is all about ambiance and ceremony. It is about getting dressed in your most fab outfit and eating delightful little finger foods. It is about pretending that you don’t have a care in the world. Claridges does that in spades. I highly recommend having afternoon tea here, but I do think that if you could only choose one place for afternoon tea, the Ritz has the edge (which are scones straight from the oven 
– what can I say, I’m all about the food).
– what can I say, I’m all about the food).
Hi, i must say fantastic site you have, i stumbled across it in Google. I bought myself the canon sd780is digital camera. Its just a pleasure to use.